Onetime PCHS teacher pleads no contest to sex charge

Robert Rauzi was terminated last winter as the result of internal investigation

A onetime Park City High School teacher and member of the athletic program has pleaded no contest to a sex-related charge.

Robert Rauzi, who is 33 years old, entered the plea in June in Summit County Justice Court.

Rauzi's plea will be held in abeyance for 18 months. The charge will be dismissed if Rauzi complies with the judge's orders. Judge Shauna Kerr ordered Rauzi to pay $623 in court costs and fees. The judge ordered Rauzi to complete a sexual behavior risk assessment and comply with the recommendations made as a result of the assessment within six months. Rauzi must also not violate the law and is required to notify the Justice Court if he moves.

If Rauzi does not comply with the terms, he would be required to appear before the judge again. The plea in abeyance could be terminated at that point and he could be sentenced.

A no contest plea is not an admission of guilt, but defendants who enter a plea of no contest may be sentenced similarly to someone who pleads guilty or who is found guilty in a trial.

Justice Court records indicated Rauzi's state teaching license was to be revoked permanently as a result of the case. A representative of the Utah State Office of Education did not immediately return a phone message seeking comment about a revocation.

Rauzi's no contest plea followed more than two months after a City Hall prosecutor charged him with a class B misdemeanor count of attempted unlawful sexual conduct with a 16 year old or a 17 year old.

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A class B misdemeanor sentence could have involved six months in jail and a $1,000 fine. The judge did not impose a jail sentence.

An attorney for Rauzi previously had entered a not guilty plea on his behalf. The attorney declined to comment through their firm about the no contest plea.

In a one-page charging document filed in Justice Court in April, a City Hall prosecutor said the incident occurred on Jan. 3. The charging document did not provide details, and the prosecutor, Tricia Lake, declined to discuss the case this week.

Neither the prosecutors nor the Park City School District spoke extensively about the case. Rauzi was an athletic trainer and taught health sciences.

Tom Van Gorder, who was the interim superintendent at the time, previously said Rauzi's employment was terminated as a result of an internal investigation that lasted between one and two weeks into the incident. He said a complaint led to the internal investigation and Rauzi was suspended while the probe was underway. The School District has declined to discuss whether the case involved a student at the high school.

Rauzi worked at the high school for nearly five years. The School District in January notified Rauzi he would be terminated and the termination action occurred in the middle of February, the district said.

Tim McConnell, the School District's associate superintendent over human resources, declined to discuss the criminal case against Rauzi. Moe Hickey, the president of the Park City Board of Education, also declined to comment.